Abstract:
Soil samples collected from faten'te zones of Kerala were examined for
fractions and elemental components of organic matter. The humic acid accounted
for 28.28 percent of organic matter. Humic acid was found to be significantly
and positively correlated with organic C (r=0.8520**), total nitrogen (r = 0.7397**),
clay (r= 0.7799**) and fulvic acid (r = 0-90S2**). Humic acid and fuivic acid maintained
a constant proportion irrespective of the variation in content of organic
matter. Fulvic acid accounted for 36.51 per cent of total organic matter. Significant
and positive correlations were observed for fulvic acid with organic carbon
(r=0.9618**), total N ;r = 0.891 3**) and humic acid (r= 0.8552**), The HA/FA
ratio of soil organic matter ranged from 0.23 to 1.06 with a mean value of 0.78.
Humin fraction accounted for 35.21 per cent of soil organic matter. Hunnin content
was found to be positively and significantly correlated with total nitrogen
(r —0.7374**) and organic carbon (r —0.6455**}. The mean contents of nitrogen,
phosphorus, sulphur and potassium in soil organic matter were 7.34, 0.051, 6.96
and 0.32 per cent respectively.
